Perpetual Motion® Podcast

Problems looking for solutions will always find them. In this special holiday episode, Michael and Colin discuss wacky patents. Timestamps:0:46 – Gravity Wheel Apparatus, Patent No. 3,625,0893:34 – Fresh-Air Breathing Device and Method, Patent No. 4,320,7566:31 – Aircraft Landing System, Patent No. 3,380,6909:37 – Device for Waking Persons from Sleep, Patent No. 256,26511:50 – Combination Toy Dog and Vacuum Cleaner, Patent No. 3,771,19213:42 – Internet Canine Communication Device and Method, Patent No. 9,723,81316:32 – Banana Protective Device, Patent No. 6,612,44018:59 – Walking Through Walls Training System, Patent Appl. No. 10,890,635

Colin Fowler and guest host, Ben Brokesh, visit TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Listen in as they meet with some of the foremost startup entrepreneurs.  Timestamps:3:24 – HyWatts (Sam Ruben, CBDO and Co-Founder): Delivers clean, modular energy systems that turn renewable power into reliable electricity. 14:23 – Tesollo (Youngjin Kim, President and CEO; Wooseok Ryu, CTO): Solves complex problems and creates new value for their customers through advanced robotic automation solutions utilizing robotic grippers. 19:46 – Carbon Native Solutions (Keith Crossland, CEO): Invented a new class of multi-objective AI that transforms local industrial waste and minerals into high-performance, carbon-negative cement materials using standard equipment. 29:23 – Steg.AI (Eric Wengrowski, CEO): Trains in-house deep learning models for watermarking and poisoning for use through APIs, web applications, and third-party integrations. 41:27 – Ascender Systems (Jorge Muniz, Co-Founder and CEO): Patented a climbing robot that can scale utility/light/flag poles, pipes, and columns of varying shapes from 3 inches to 22 inches. 49:49 – Ponderosa.ai (Scott Benson, Founding Software Engineer): Develops cost-effective AI-enabled fire suppression drone swarms that can be broadly distributed and prepositioned in areas of high risk.

Michael Glenn and guest host, Bryce Freund, visit the 2025 Austin Tech Week. Listen as they meet and mingle with some of Austin’s startup entrepreneurs. Timestamps:01:51 - Orbit Fab (Daniel Faber, Founding CEO): Founded in 2018 to eliminate the single-use spacecraft paradigm with in-space refueling. 10:50 – DAYY Photonics (Paul Golata): Supports the technological needs of our customers by developing industry-leading light sources and custom photonic solutions. 16:33 – spogan.ai (Joonas Koivuniemi, Co-Founder & CEO): Turns complex data into clear, real-time guidance with voice and visuals. 22:56 – Well Water Finders (Andrew Vandekop): Helps decision makers in real estate, agriculture, county supply, and private land ownership determine not only where groundwater is located, but whether there is enough of it to meet their needs. 30:07 – Alt-Bionics (Jackson Heinz, Co-Founder and CTO): Striving to transform the fields of prosthetics and humanoid robotics with cutting-edge, yet affordable bionic hands.

In this episode, Michael and Colin enter the world of indigenous high fashion with Amber Dawn Bear Robe, curator of Native Fashion Week – Santa Fe.

Michael and Colin speak with the CTO of General Galactic, Luke Neise, about employing a water-based propulsion system in spacecraft to achieve high thrust for rapid maneuver and high efficiency for sustained operations in space.

Michael and Colin discuss fire pits, problem solving as a key feature of inventing, and perseverance with solo entrepren-eer, John Chadwell. 

Michael and Colin meet with Lt. Cmdr. Mitchell Kempisty to discuss astronautical engineering, the role of education in invention, and the challenges facing an entrepreneur while serving as a naval executive officer and commanding officer.

Michael and Colin talk entrepreneurship, investing, and creativity with American entrepreneur and angel investor Keith Schacht.

The Perpetual Motion podcast visits the 2025 Rice Business Plan Competition and talks with several of the 42 teams from around the world competing for more than $1.5 million in cash and prizes. Timestamps:2:02 - GreenLIB: One-step pre-treatment process that extracts and refines critical battery elements4:25 - Rora: Committed to bettering women’s health at every life stage by creating innovative products for menopause symptom management8:10 - Safe Marine Transfer: Focused on safe subsea chemical injection to economically extend deepwater subsea tiebacks13:01 - Xatoms: using AI and Quantum-Chemistry to discover new materials to clean polluted water16:57 - Pinwheel: Designed for kids and managed by parents, this cool looking, modern phone helps kids grow into independent adults who use technology well23:20 - Watermarked.ai: Disrupts AI model training with undetectable audio watermarks and detects AI-generated deepfakes25:46 - Mito Robotics: AI-powered robotic system designed to automate research-scale cell culture

Michael and Colin meet with Lonn Cunningham, a veteran, inventor, and dedicated fisherman. Lonn shares how his mobility disabilities have put him in a unique position to help people find human connection.

In this episode, Michael and Colin talk to inventor and professor, John Hetling, about his ground-up process for teaching the next generation of inventors, as well as his novel approach to addressing health issues through scans of the eye.

Michael and Colin talk with innovator, creator, director, advocate, and inventor (whew) Audrey Rumsby about unconventional fundraising for art patronage, the preservation of cultural heritage, body dysmorphia, startups, and parenting, to name a few of the topics covered.Guest: Audrey Rumsby

For the 50th episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler revisit a number of their past guests to check in with them and see how each of their endeavors have progressed in the intervening years.Timestamps:03:43 – Lisa Wallace from Episode 8: From Potato Farms to Server Farms11:57 – Bob Cousins from Episode 9: Meet the Inventor of the Year21:36 – Craig Grossman from Episode 19: Something Big About Something Small32:35 – Danny Hillis from Episode 3: Pursuit of Curiosity: Inside an Inventor’s Mind44:11 – Lisa Myers from Episode 43: A Mother of Invention53:25 – Eric Bartsch from Episode 32: Electric Aviation Takes Off1:06:48 – Monica Plath from Episode 16: Tech Takes Toddlers to Task1:19:53 – Dr. Stephen Thaler from Episode 1: Are All Inventors Humans?

Michael Glenn and Vikram Iyengar visit the Austin Tech Week 2024 Startup Crawl. Listen in as they meet and mingle with Austin’s foremost startup entrepreneurs.01:35 - Everlume Bio – Pioneering a new approach to drug development for rare diseases.13:01 - Imperium Technologies – Delivering cutting-edge technology that replaces manholes and stethoscopes with web browsers and smartphones.20:20 - Arovia – Develops nanomaterial tech with display, lighting, energy, and automotive applications.25:08 - Mindspace AI – Harnesses AI to assist companies with projects from development to deployment, strategy to market success.36:13 - Applied Bioplastics – Develops new solutions for mass produced bioplastics in the retail, packaging, and medical industries.39:53 - Quantum Photonics – Aims to create sustainable photonic power networks and liberate humanity from energy scarcity.42:31 - Cyber Fusion Innovation Center (CFIC) – Aids the U.S. Army Cyber Command in defending the Department of Defense Information Network, delivering cyberspace effects.43:50 - Nuvothera – A Fort Worth, TX-based biotech company formed by seasoned dermatology pharmaceutical executives with the mission of developing novel over-the-counter products.51:44 - Space Cowboy – A system to capture and remove small pieces of space debris, reducing operational risk to satellite assets, and stewarding the orbital environment.56:30 - Hylio  – Improves farming by leveraging advanced technologies such as GPS and data analytics. 62:22 - Hollocraft – An eVTOL startup revolutionizing urban air mobility with sustainable, efficient, and user-friendly solutions.65:54 – Stargaze – An educational and investment app, developed by Godly Money, that operates according to Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI) principles.

Colin Fowler and guest host John Fuller visit TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Listen in as they meet and mingle with the foremost startup entrepreneurs.2:12 Metal Light – is a clean-tech startup that advances metal-air technology and develops clean and sustainable power generators.9:50 BANF – is a Korea-based company that uses sensors to collect data on tire pressure, temperature, tread wear, wheel alignment, and even lug nut stability.17:36 Rarefied – is developing a novel propulsion mechanism that allows lightweight platforms to fly in near-space (30 km-100 km altitudes) using only sunlight.28:10 Tensor Tech – specializes in guidance, navigation, and control for satellites. 36:55 Solideon – is a manufacturing entity capable of crafting any aerospace vehicle.47:23 Witching Hour – creates low-cost, rapid, and effective forest fire mitigation technology, with the mission of ending forest fires.53:34 - SkiiMoo Tech – is the first ultra-humanistic prosthetic penis that can go from flaccid to erect at the push of a button via a smartphone or smartwatch.01:00 Posha – is transforming how the world eats healthy by building cooking robots for the home.

In this episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler discuss pioneering innovation and disruption with serial entrepreneur Nathan Schulhof.

In this episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler speak with Maxime Lamothe-Brassard of LimaCharlie about cybersecurity as a buildable cloud service. Maxime discusses a thoughtful approach to product development that puts cloud service structure into context in terms of both market forces and the historical development of cybersecurity products.“But the fundamental truth behind it is, all of this is just stuff made up by humans to make a system work. And if you read about it and you go and you try to understand it, you can step through it and you can do it.” - Maxime Lamothe-Brassard, Founder & CEO of LimaCharlie

In this episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler discuss, inter alia, how passion and anger drive creativity with renaissance man John Dolmayan, drummer with System of a Down, entrepreneur, inventor, artist, author, and founder/CEO of Ship Assure and SGCC, Inc.“Somebody has to be successful, at all times. Why can’t that person be you? That’s the dream. It keeps the dream alive. It keeps you working and putting that effort in to make, make the difference. As long as you dream, you live.” – John Dolmayan, Founder and CEO of Ship Assure and SGCC Inc.; System of a Down drummer

In this episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler talk with Chris Needham and Frank Oudheusden, engineering consultants in the solar field, about issues faced in designing solar arrays and how radical changes in the market and technology lead to radical adaptations of the associated engineering.“My advice is to find a growth industry where you're not staring at a whole mass of experts that got in before you so that you're allowed to try the new things and to make the mistakes.”  - Chris Needham, Manager, Azimuth Advisory Services, LLC

In this episode, Michael Glenn and Colin Fowler talk with Lisa Myers, inventor of Ceres Chill. As a new mom, she built a successful business aiming to solve the problems she faced in the workplace as a nursing mother and lawyer.“I'm so proud to be working in support of hero moms and families everywhere, bringing science to the table.”  - Lisa Myers, CEO and Founder, Ceres Chill